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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - CULTURE continues to play a significant role as a driver and enabler for sustainable development in ASEAN, said the minister of Culture, Youth and Sports during the Sixth Meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and the Arts (AMCA) and Related Meetings with dialogue partners held at Hue City, Vietnam recently.

“Culture forges a common ASEAN identity of humanity, a vehicle of social integration and civil society as well as a driver for knowledge and human intelligence.

I am in Hue City, Vietnam on the last day of the ASEAN Ministers of Culture Meeting (AMCA) when my wife phoned me about the announcement on several promotions and transfers including yours truly moving back to the Prime Minister's Office. I last served there in 2004 before being promoted as Managing Director of the Employees' Trust Fund Board in November 2004. The announcement in full:
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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: By command of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) hereby announces that His Majesty has consented to the appointment and transfer of respective senior officers to the Prime Minister's Office.

Awg Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Defence and Development Policy), Ministry of Defence has been appointment as Permanent Secretary (International, Planning and Development Economy and Finance) at the Prime Minister's Office.

On Monday, March 31, 2014, U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Daniel Shields visited Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade II Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng and presented him with a plaque commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between Brunei Darussalam and the United States of America.

This year, 2014, marks the thirtieth anniversary of not only Brunei Darussalam’s full independence in 1984 but also diplomatic relations between the United States and Brunei Darussalam. The relationship between our two countries actually dates back much longer than three decades, however. In fact, the two countries have one hundred and sixty nine (169) years of shared history, since the visit of the USS Constitution to Brunei in April 1845, which led to the signing of the U.S.-Brunei Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Commerce and Navigation that is still in effect today.On March 14, 2014, Ambassador Shields and other high-ranking officials from the U.S.…